HOMELESS MAN FACING LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR STABBING ANOTHER MAN DURING AN ARGUMENT OVER LITTERING

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 40 year old homeless man is facing a maximum sentence of up to life imprisonment after being convicted of assault in the stabbing of another homeless man earlier this month.

Romero Anderson, who was charged with attempted murder following the July 14, 2005 incident, pled guilty before indictment by the grand jury, to 1 count of Assault in the 2nd degree in the stabbing of Ronald Brown, 48.

Under terms of the plea agreement, Anderson will be sentenced as a persistent violent felony offender to a term of 12 years to life imprisonment when he appears before Acting State Supreme Court Justice John Byrne on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 in Part A. Anderson served 4 to 8 years on a 1993 attempted robbery conviction, and 6 years imprisonment before that on an attempted burglary conviction in 1985.

Anderson’s most recent crime occurred at the site of a construction job in front of 366 East 160th Street. As a security measure, the victim, Ronald Brown had been allowed to spend his nights at the sight with his two dogs. The bloody altercation occurred when Brown reprimanded Anderson for littering the area with a container of leftover Chinese food that he had been eating. Brown was preparing cans of dog food for his pets as the argument with Anderson escalated. When Brown put down the knife that he had been using to open the cans and mix the dog food, Anderson picked up the knife and plunged it once into Brown’s chest. Brown remains hospitalized in good condition after undergoing surgery to repair damage to a tiny piece of his heart as a result of the stabbing.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Gary Weil.